Vehicles for the transport of persons in wheelchairs are known. These include the type of vehicle where the wheel base of a passenger vehicle has been extended to provide a larger area behind the front seat sufficient to accommodate a wheel chair. To enter the vehicle a portable ramp is provided to extend from the side of the vehicle onto the footpath, roadway, or other area. Thus a separate ramp has to be carried and positioned before the person can enter or leave the vehicle. Once in the vehicle the wheel chair has to be turned 90 degrees this being done in a confined space. Another form of vehicle has an entry from the rear of the vehicle, the vehicle being essentially a commercial vehicle with rear opening doors, a converted commercial vehicle. A lifting platform is provided on the rear of the vehicle which must be lowered before the rear doors are opened, the platform being usually hydraulically operated. However this lifting platform extends from the rear of the vehicle and thus protrudes into the surrounding area. Many persons may not appreciate the lifting action and being lifted without any surrounding visible support. Once the desired height has been reached, the person then is wheeled into the vehicle. The platform is then lowered, the rear doors closed, and the platform folded to the vertical position outside the closed doors before the vehicle can be moved.
In each of these examples as the ramp or lifting platform extends from the vehicle, an access space is required either beside or behind the vehicle. Also the person is totally exposed to the public view, and the weather elements during this operation.
Another example of such a vehicle is shown in GB1087012 where the chassis of the vehicle is extended rearwardly behind the rear wheels, and a lifting platform is provided between the chassis extensions. However, this extends the length of the vehicle making it difficult to park in parking bays with sufficient clearance behind the vehicle to provide wheel chair access to and from the vehicle. Also U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,335 describes a load transport vehicle or truck with a rear loading platform, the gain access to the rear of the vehicle, a bottom frame is pivoted to each side of the body of the vehicle, and is opened during loading and unloading operations. This frame member carries the vehicle's required safety lights, and is closed during operation of the vehicle, the frame member covering the rear edge of the platform.
Thus with GB 1087012 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,051,335 access to the vehicle is only from the rear, the lifting platform being an addition to the rear of the vehicle, and is attached to the chassis members or body of the vehicle or an extension thereof without weakening or interrupting the longitudinal structural rigidity of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,308 describes a further form of vehicle for transporting persons in wheel chairs. In this instance a large passenger bus in which a wheel chair lift is provided, which the lift platform serves as part of the floor of the vehicle, and does not need to be extended outwardly of the vehicle to load or unload a wheel chair passenger. Due to the width of the vehicle, the structural members of the vehicle are not disturbed by providing this facility in the vehicle, for this facility is positioned outwardly of the longitudinal structural members.
However while this facility is provided in a large passenger bus it is an object of this invention to provide a lift for a person in a wheel chair, with the lift being provided by a portion of the floor of a small vehicle.